Zippo and Street Artist Ben Eine Create 17,500 Square Meter Mural in East London

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Zippo

18 Jan, 2018, 09:00 GMT

LONDON, January 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Zippo and acclaimed street artist Ben Eine today unveiled a huge 17,500 square meter mural. Depicting the word "CREATE" the artwork came to life on a truly unconventional canvas: a sparse, industrial ground space in East London spanning 17,500 square meters.  

Zippo and Ben Eine’s 17,500 square meter mural in East London, UK (PRNewsfoto/Zippo)
Zippo and Ben Eine’s 17,500 square meter mural in East London, UK (PRNewsfoto/Zippo)

     (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/625044/Zippo_Logo.jpg )

     (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/623915/Zippo_Ben_Eine_Mural.jpg )

A new video entitled An Unconventional Canvas reveals the enormous artwork and is available to view from today on the brand's social channels https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9WveHQDeno . The video captures Eine taking on his most unpredictable project to date and highlights the challenging path to create a large scale painting on the ground. With the epic feat only entirely viewable from great heights, Zippo and Eine used the power of drones to capture the creative journey.

The huge artwork required 2,850 litres of recycled paint, a 200-litre bathtub for mixing, 18-inch wide rollers and a team of 30 supporting volunteers and six artists. Due to the scale of the piece, Eine could only check the progress of the artwork with the use of drone footage.

Co-founder and CEO of Global Street Art, Lee Bofkin, comments: "Painting on the ground at scale is extremely challenging and this mural truly sets a new standard for scale and skill."

Ben Eine commented: "I love to paint and beautify the most unexpected of places - I've painted everything from doorways to trains but have always wanted to do something really huge and different. Painting on the ground was a cool challenge because you can't just stand back and see what you're doing. We used drones, string and all sorts to make sure it looked how I imagined, and check that it was spelt right!"

Months in the making, and live for an indefinite time, the artwork serves as a stark reminder of the transient nature of street art. The collaboration will culminate in the permanent capture of the momentous work on a limited edition Zippo windproof lighter - a canvas that lasts a lifetime.

Lucas Johnson, Global Brand Manager at Zippo, said: "Zippo lighters have long served as a canvas for art. Our lighter designs are ever changing and have earnt us an enthusiastic collector base across the world. By capturing Ben's most challenging work on an iconic windproof lighter we continue to shine a light on unconventional art and celebrate creativity in all its forms."